Friday, November 19, 2010

D&D 4e Virtual Table

Since it was announced several years ago I thought that a D&D 4e virtual tabletop hosted by Wizards would a major change in the hobby. If probably done it would make it easy for D&D 4e players to find each other and play when it convenient for them. Especially if it had on a server/meeting room front end where players could browse and find games to play.

This benefits the rest of the hobby as this helps keep the network of D&D players healthy. Which is where most other RPGs get their players from. Also by popularizing Virtual Table Tops this will draw attention to this type of software. Making it slightly easier for us who play other RPGs, like Swords & Wizardry, and use VTTs to find players. It will also spur innovation as other VTTs strive to exceed what Wizards offers.

After a long period, we have some news, a FAQ, and a Screen Shot. Of course nobody has a lot of respect for Wizard's programming team so we wait to see if they can actually pull this off right.

To me it looks like they are going 2D and integrating their token and tile art into the product. The earlier incarnation was going to be 3D which was going to be too big of leap. I think going the 2D route will leverage the advantage in art that Wizards has and provide an achievable goal.

Update:The things Wizards will need to get right to be competitive in the long run will be

Integration with Character Builder and Compendium.

Use of Dungeon Tiles and other art assets,

good game lobby to find other players.

A regular release of precanned modules similar to encounters or delves so that even the most time pressed DM can get involved.

If they get these right they can be "good enough" in other areas compared to their competitors.

6 comments:

Alas, this new model doesn't ambitious enough. Fantasy Grounds II seem's to do everything Wizards have promised and more. And whats more, it has been doing it for a good few years now.I am, once again, utterly disappointed.

I agree that Fantasy Grounds has a very good 4e ruleset and even has converters that parses Stat blocks into a form FG can use. Thus avoiding copyright issues.

The three things Wizards will need to get right will be 1) Intregration with Character Builder, 2)Use of Dungeon Tiles and other art assets, 3)A good game lobby to find other players. 4)A regular release of precanned modules similar to encounters or delves so that even the most time pressed DM can get involved.

I have to agree with those who would like to stick with Fantasy Grounds 2. We have in our group been playing with FG and we love it.

When 4e first hit, I was psyched. The VTT concept that was first introduced at GENCON blew me away. But I would have been satisfied with much less. But after waiting for months we were forced to find something else. And FG has been great.

Bat in the Attic Games

How to make a Sandbox

The Old School Renaissance

To me the Old School Renaissance is not about playing a particular set of rules in a particular way, the dungeon crawl. It is about going back to the roots of our hobby and seeing what we could do differently. What avenues were not explored because of the commercial and personal interests of the game designers of the time.

What are RPGs?

A game where the players play individual characters interacting with a setting with their actions adjudicated by a human referee.

Rules are an aide to help the referee adjudicate actions and to help the players interact with the setting.

Dice are used to inject uncertainty which make a tabletop RPG campaign more interesting than "Let's Pretend".

The only thing a player needs to do to roleplay a character is to act if he or she was really there in the setting in that situation.